//------------------------------// // 40. Affairs // Story: Soldier of the Night // by Skyfire Storm //------------------------------// Storm couldn’t sleep at all that night, as much as he tried to. No matter what he did he couldn’t get himself to fall asleep at all, and the arrival of a nighttime thunderstorm did not help whatsoever. The pattering of raindrops on his window punctuated by periodic rumbles of thunder sounded through his high-rise abode, at least a hundred feet above the still-bustling streets of Vanhoover, which even this late into the night remained as busy as ever and teemed with life. Resting his hooves on the windowsill behind his couch, Storm—eyes glazed in crust—stared out of the window at the city sprawled out before him, tendrils of suburbs and residential areas encroaching in all directions almost as far as the eye could see. At street level, neon lights from the strip mall just a crosswalk away from his apartment building gleamed in a technicolor fashion and illuminated the rainy night as ponies who’d been caught outside in the storm trotted through forming puddles in a desperate trek to find some form of shelter. The taller office buildings at either side of the mall were also lit up, and the skyline in the distance shone like the beacon of a lighthouse guiding a stray ship through a dense sheath of fog. With a prescient chill in the air and fall now on the horizon also, the seemingly-endless rains and the overcast, foggy days—a dour, yet lasting and also somewhat endearing image of the Prancific Northwest as a whole—were approaching rapidly. And when it rains in Vanhoover, it pours. Lightning whipped its way across the pitch-black sky followed by a rather loud rumble of thunder as Storm heaved a sigh, his mind deeply engrossed in solitary thought even as he stared out at the city streets below, puddles glistening under the light of nearby street lamps and technicolor neon shop signage. While watching the city live and breathe into the night, Storm pondered over the events of that day, his conversation with Clear especially, and the implications of it to no end. If he decided to go through with filing a lawsuit against the weather factory, his whole world would change dramatically. For better or for worse, he hadn’t a clue, but what was certain was that he would have himself a whole new set of enemies to contend with. This was beyond a shadow of any reasonable doubt. But he wanted justice for himself, and now, come to think of it, justice for whoever else it was that caused the factory to ‘land in hot water’, as Clear put it. Was any of this worth it, however? Would it prove too much for one pony to go against a huge, multi-million-bit corporation with the money and the power to quell any legal action before it even began and an army of defense attorneys to protect it at every turn? Storm didn’t know, and part of him wanted it to stay that way. But he needed to do something. He just had to. In all honesty, it was strange just how lonely Vanhoover seemed in spite of boasting such a large population, a cruel irony in a sense. Although dating Lilli and now acquainted with so many ponies at the factory, he felt more alone than he’d ever felt before, having nopony aside from her, and perhaps her mother also, to talk to and confide in. It was depressing, more than depressing in fact, just how out of place Storm felt amongst the stock of largely Vanhoover-bred weather pony hopefuls he’d trained alongside over the past couple of weeks, standing out from the rest of the crowd in more ways than one. The fact that he was denied health insurance coverage by the factory or compensation for the injuries he had sustained during his training period was enough to push him over the edge just thinking about it; and although he wasn’t personally responsible for paying off the resulting hospital bill, just pondering over its now-disclosed value was enough to make him queasy, to say the least. He didn’t want to be here. His stay in Vanhoover, as short as it was still, had overwhelmed him in the most awful sense of the word; everything that had happened to him up until that point felt like nothing more than some form of cruel and unusual punishment, like a curse of some sort that loomed over him wherever he went and made his life miserable beyond belief. The longing to be back home was ineffable. “I need to get out of here,” Storm muttered under his breath, his very thoughts having metamorphosed into words as his hooves slid across the windowsill. “I can’t take this fucking place anymore...the ponies, everything about it. I just have to leave.” Needless to say, it felt good letting that out, the overwhelming weight of the whole situation he’d found himself in subsiding, albeit slightly. This city had tempted and tested his very soul, and near enough broken him both physically and mentally - to leave would be to put that all aside and move on with his life, be what and where he was meant to be all along. Be with Blue. Then again, he had no idea how to make this possible. Even if Clear were to cancel his contract, it could very much take weeks to leave and Storm would very quickly find himself tight on whatever money he had left. Although his apartment remained relatively unfurnished ever since he moved in and the process of physically moving out of it wouldn’t take very long as such, the paperwork he’d potentially have to fill in and sign just to put the place back up for rent would be a lot to bear to say the least. Would High Wind also have to give his written consent also? Would any of this be worth it in the end? Storm had virtually no clue, but he was willing to do it if it meant returning to his former life, if it meant returning to Blue. He’d swore to himself that he would never neglect her again after this. Never again. At that point, he’d subconsciously made the decision to go straight to Clear’s office, either before or after training tomorrow, and tell her everything. She was right. It was high time for a change, and Storm was lucky to have somepony like her on his side if anything were to escalate to the point of legal action being taken. The prospect of leaving all this behind would be daunting without a doubt, and he had no way of foreseeing Lilli’s response especially, but something told him it would be a less-than-favorable one at that. At that very moment, again the conflicting feelings had returned to torment him, to test his heart and soul. He loved Blue more than anything, and she meant the world to him. He’d made the mistake of his life by cheating on her with another mare, and at this point in time he was unsure of what he could do to fix it, if he could do anything now. “Oh Blue,” Storm sighed as he turned his attention towards the coffee table on which his cellphone rested next to an unused stack of printer paper he’d purchased from a nearby office supplies store, lightning flashing in from outside punctuated by a burst of thunder that came in an instant. “I’m so sorry...for everything.” Although overwhelmed by guilt from neglecting to remain in contact with her, for some strange reason he could not force himself to pick up the phone or even write a simple letter to her. Maybe it was the simple fear of her picking up the phone and finding out about everything that’s been going on as of late, especially about his as-of-yet-ongoing relationship with Lilli, which he couldn’t bring himself to tell about whatsoever. He had no idea. He had no idea how to resolve this now, but he needed to. Somehow. “Blue, I wish I could be with you right now,” Storm spoke softly in the still of the night, desperately wanting to convince himself to at the very least write her a message, and hoping deep down inside that his words would reach her somehow across the vast plane of their nighttime existence and reverberate back to him. Storm was never religious or spiritual in any sense of the word, and thus the metaphysical definition of ‘love’ wasn’t something that he’d necessarily subscribed to; but now, as he pondered over it, the love he’d felt for Blue was about as pure and unending as can be, stemming from someplace deep within that he wasn’t capable of explaining. Cheating on her, he felt, was by far the worst thing he could have done in terms of their relationship, and someday he’d need to face the music, perhaps more sooner than later. “I’m in a dark place in my life at the moment, cold, alone...in a sense frightened...I have nopony to turn to whatsoever, and I feel as though I’d dug this hole for myself.” “Why did I cut myself off from you?” Curling into a fetal position on the couch, Storm extended a hoof across the gap between it and the coffee table towards his cellphone, heart skipping a beat as he finally felt its cold, rock-hard plastic texture nestled firmly in his grasp. With a gentle tap of a single key, the small screen, as well as the triangular-shaped keypad, flickered to life and softly illuminated the immediate vicinity of the living room, a small, white beacon of hope for Storm at that point in time in rekindling his relationship with Blue. He broke his promise to maintain contact with her, but at that point in time he swore to himself that he’d do his best to at least try and reestablish it for the duration of his stay in Vanhoover and hopefully reconnect. Two successive taps of the keypad and he’d unlocked the phone; his eyes were, however, encrusted to a point where he could barely see the logo of his cell phone provider in the white glare of the screen, let alone any discernible text, and so it took him a minute or so to adjust. Through rapid blinking and eye movements, Storm managed to clear his vision at least somewhat, enough at least to read the on-screen text without the glare blinding him. Was this the right thing to do? Storm felt more than a little confused by his actions at that moment in time, a combined sense of hesitation and anxiety creeping over him as he scoured his phone for his contacts list. It was two in the morning here in Vanhoover, which meant it had just turned four in Cloudsdale, and Storm had no idea if Blue was working any early morning shifts at the weather factory back home now that she was not restricted by school hours anymore. The last time they’d talked Blue had told him that she had a variable shift schedule at work, and so, if that still applied, Storm had no idea exactly what sort of hours she was doing at the factory. If he called her at the wrong time it would be taken the wrong way without a doubt, but he was willing to do something, for both his sake and the sake of their relationship. He’d scrolled through his contacts until he finally found it. That familiar ten-digit number of hers standing out from the rest, a number he’d failed to call on so many different occasions. Not anymore. But before he could do so, he changed his mind at the last second. “This...this isn’t right,” Storm suddenly blurted out, dropping the phone back onto the edge of the coffee table. “I can’t...what the hell am I doing?” He felt tormented now. His breath was heavy and his heart raced at hundreds of miles an hour, or so it seemed, as he pondered over the consequences of this call, what could very well be a small miracle linking two disconnected lovers separated by sheer distance. He couldn’t do it. As well-intentioned as he was, Storm felt that this would just make things worse. Blue would never take him back, or so he thought. Not after what he did. Not once she finds out. But it was more than worth a shot. No amount of letters could reproduce the sound of Blue’s voice, a sound that he sorely missed - a sound that he yearned to hear again. He just had to try once more. Hoof hovering over the keypad, Storm tapped the dial key gently after selecting her number again. There was no going back now—unless he were to hang up immediately, that is. His heart leapt into overdrive, beating frantically within his chest as he tried to predict her response. As he listened to the dial tone he had his doubts that it would be anything positive. Deep down inside, in fact, he’d hoped that he wouldn’t get through to her in the end, that her phone was on silent or switched off, that its battery was drained. The dial tone suddenly cut off after a couple of seconds, and in the ensuing silence a faint murmur of a voice could be heard on the other end. He’d committed the very mistake he was hoping to avoid; the very mistake he dreaded. He woke her up. He’d woken her up. “...Hello?” “Blue? Hey...it’s...me,” Storm’s ears flattened as his world came crashing to a halt, heart racing in the confines of his ribcage as he desperately tried to foresee her response, whatever that may be. “Stormy...is that you?” It was her voice. Tired, croaky, but it was her voice. The voice of an angel. Storm’s heart sank, overwhelmed by sudden emotion, and his eyes glistened with welling tears as he listened in. “Blue?” he quivered, trembling somewhat as he raised a slight eyebrow. “I know this is a strange time to call…and I’m so sorry for waking you up like this.” “Storm…” She suddenly paused, a faint quiver in her voice audible across the line. Was she crying? “I haven’t heard anything from you in so long...no letter, nothing.” He’d stopped sending her letters a few weeks ago. In the chaos and confusion of these past few weeks, he didn’t answer any of her calls, let alone call her himself. And now he felt worse than death about it. “Oh Blue, I know...and I’m so sorry for this,” Storm exhaled, letting out a sigh as he began to anticipate the worst, also debating on whether or not he should tell her about the things that had been going on at the factory as of late. He couldn’t. It wasn’t time yet. How would she respond if he did? “Blue, I’ve...I’ve..,” he stuttered, stumbling over his words. “I’ve just been so caught up with things lately…It’s been...very busy, very hectic over here, and I just didn’t really have the time to just stop and focus on the things that really matter to me. Blue, I’m so, so sorry. We were supposed to keep in touch while I was gone and I completely blew any opportunity I had to get back to you...Blue, I promise you that this will never happen again - from now on I will never leave you hanging.” “Stormy, it’s all right,” she replied, very matter-of-factly at that. “I’m not angry at you or anything. I understand completely…I was just worried.” “You...aren’t?” he blinked twice, raising an eyebrow. “Of course not honey, I was just worried sick,” Blue responded, the tone of her voice frail, yet firm. “If anything I’m just angry at this whole situation...We’re so far away from each other right now, I just don’t know what I’d do if anything were to happen to you. Storm?” “Yeah?” “I miss you so much, honey,” Blue sighed, achingly. “I’m missing a part of myself without you by my side. I keep thinking about you all the time, and just long for you to come home...I haven’t slept well in days because I was so worried about you, especially as of late.” “I do too,” Storm replied sorrowfully, a hint of regret and self-loathing evident in his voice as lightning flashed and thunder rumbled outside. It was all his fault, now that he’d thought about it—he was an adult now, and High Wind couldn’t tell him what to do anymore. Why did he have to follow through? He could have just as easily stood his ground. Why didn’t he? “I do too, Blue…this place is so much different from home, and not in a good way.” “How so?” she inquired. Her voice was faint now, warbly even. The storm must’ve been interfering with his cell signal in some way or another by the looks and sounds of it. “Well…, it just doesn’t feel like ‘home’ per se,” Storm replied, his heart shattering as he pondered over the events that he bore witness to and partook in in Vanhoover. His accident, his effective betrayal by the weather factory. His relationship with Lilli. “Not without you, at least...Blue, I want to come home…” “I know, honey,” she sighed. “I want you home too…lately things have been difficult for me to say the least, and I’m so sorry for not keeping in touch with you myself.” “Blue, it’s okay,” Storm replied. “You still called me though...and I’m the one that hasn’t answered any of them.” “Stormy…,” her voice trembled. “My brother...he’s in deployment again.” “He...is?” Storm’s heart skipped a beat all of a sudden, before it hit him like a freight train. The naval standoff out at sea was still ongoing, and the death toll on both sides rose day by day; although there was no evidence to imply the Griffon Empire was involved in this, Storm began to have his doubts and question the overall consensus—and so did Lilli and Ward. Some of Equestria’s finest young stallions were sent out to sea, and whether or not they made it back home was another matter entirely. “Blue, I’m sorry about your brother...but he’ll be back home in no time, I just know it.” “I hope so too, Stormy,” Blue quivered somewhat. “He’s been gone for so long now...and this is his last deployment.” He’d only really known Blue’s brother from their high school graduation, but deep down inside Storm hoped and silently prayed for him to make a safe return home from his deployment, for Blue’s sake especially. Lone had given several years of his life to protect and serve his country, and this dedication and drive to serve was an aspect of his character that he’d greatly admired—envied even. He could only hope that once he made port he’d be able to fully reintegrate into society and settle down, becoming a pillar of the community thanks to the skills and experience he’d picked up as a sailor.    He could only hope. “Blue…,” Storm sighed, his already-brittle heart breaking for her. “He will be back. I promise you that he will be back, okay?” “I hope he’ll be back Stormy, sooner than later.” “Blue...what’s it like back home?” Storm quivered after an ensuing pause, cocking an eyebrow. “Has...anything changed since I’ve left?” “Storm…” her voice was clearer now, but grew charged with more emotion by the minute. “A lot of things have changed...and I’m not sure how you’ll respond to this.” “What...do you mean?” Storm raised an eyebrow, pupils shrinking somewhat. “Your dad called me up to his office two days ago, and...” Blue began, a pause on the line ensuing for a few moments shortly thereafter. “Storm...your parents...might be getting a divorce in the coming weeks…” “...Really?” Storm’s heart near enough stopped momentarily, his world grinding to an effective halt as he tried to process the sudden reveal. “Storm...your mom’s moved back to her parents’ old home on Saturday,” Blue replied, quite clearly in tears herself judging from her voice. “She has custody of Mist...both her and your dad will be going to marriage counseling in an attempt to resolve this somehow, but neither of them are counting on anything working out. Gust, on the other hand, isn’t talking to your dad at all…” “Oh my god,” Storm rested his head in his hooves, standing up off the couch immediately. He felt disoriented, more than confused; his heart, on the other hand, was shattered into a million pieces. His family, the ponies he loved and held so close to his heart, had all but collapsed by the looks of it. “No…NO!” “I’m so sorry, Storm,” Blue replied, her tear-soaked voice reaching through and embracing him whole. “I’m so, so sorry...I had no idea it would lead to this.” “Don’t be...Blue,” at that moment, he’d regained hold of a single thread of his emotions, but not enough to stop the flood of tears from escaping his eyes. “It’s...all my fault...how could I? How could I leave? How could I fucking listen to him like that?! HOW?!” “It’s not your fault, honey,” Blue replied, again very matter-of-factly, trying her darndest to comfort him as best as she could. She knew exactly how he felt, in a sense. Her family life was relatively stable in contrast to Storm’s, but her brother had been in deployment for a good while now, adding to her worries also. “Please don’t say that. You couldn’t have known for sure what was going to happen…” “Well, if it wasn’t for me blindly following everything he had to say then I’d still be there with you!” Storm suddenly raised his voice, his blood boiling in pure, unadulterated fury. “TO HELL WITH HIM!” “Storm…,” her voice was as calm as ever, even in the face of Storm’s tearful rage. “He’s your father.” “I know…,” Storm paused to catch his breath, heart racing frantically as his emotions held him firmly in their grasp. “I know, Blue, but...what he did...what this all led to...I despise him beyond belief! He’s nothing more than a filthy fucking pig who leeches off of and takes advantage of my mother! He’s the reason why I am here and not with you!” “Storm…” “Blue...,” Storm’s heart rate went down all of a sudden, but his anger and confusion persisted. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do now...how am I gonna cope with this?” “As best as you can, Stormy...as best as you can, and I promise you that I will be there for you at every step of the way,” her voice was soothing, yet tear-soaked and tired, and resonated with Storm. She was his rock, and Storm knew that she’d be there for him at every turn. “Storm...I know we’re so far apart still but I just want you to know that you can talk to me about anything and everything, okay? I know one day this will all be resolved in some way or another, it’s only a matter of time.” “I know I can…,” Storm sniffed, smiling, his spirits being raised at least somewhat, and all that pent-up anger fading away in an instant. “And you always give the best advice, you know that?” “Heh, I try my best.” “And that’s one thing I love about you,” Storm blushed, his cheeks lighting up all of a sudden at the very thought of her - but his frown soon returned. “I just don’t know how I’m going to pick up the pieces from this when I return home...how I’m gonna get myself back on track.” “Stormy, do you remember before you left...how we talked about our plans for the future?” “I..do,” he smirked, albeit tearfully. “Whatever happens, whatever problems we face, we face them together,” Blue replied, his spirits being raised in what seemed to be an instant. “I will always be there for you, honey, whatever happens.” “Me too, Blue,” Storm smiled, his heart fluttering and all of his fears and doubts being washed away. “I’ll be back home as soon as I possibly can be, and once I return I will always be by your side, no matter what.” “Stormy?” “Y...yeah?” “It’ll all get better, I promise.” The morning train Storm boarded shuttled across town en route to its final destination, sparse sunlight seeping into each individual car through dirty, greasy windows as the high rises of downtown faded away and became silhouettes in the morning smog. It was a warm, yet cloudy morning, albeit not quite as warm as the past couple of days had been, with temperatures probably in the early to mid sixties at best and the faint smell of petrichor permeating the air following the night’s downpour. Of course it would get warmer later on into the day, but in all honesty this was exactly the way that Storm liked it. Resting his head in the gap between the edge of his seat and the window, Storm stared out of it into the distance, blinking several times to get as much crust off his tired eyes as he could and trying desperately not to fall asleep in the time he had left before his train reached the outskirts of town. His middle school habit of pulling all-nighters had returned to him with a vengeance, or so it seemed. He’d stayed up late that night engrossed in thought, much later than the time he usually fell asleep at. The thunderstorm that kept him awake for much of the night rumbled on into the wee hours until the first signs of daybreak, and Storm only managed to get about an hour’s worth of shuteye afterwards before his alarm clock snatched him out of dreamland at around six. At the same time, in spite of his lack of sleep, he was finally able to regain contact with Blue. It was only a matter of time now before he was back home. It was only a matter of time now before he would be able to see her again. Arriving in Silverwood at around nine, Stormfire flew the rest of the way to the weather factory, his top priority in the time that he had left being to talk with Clear about his plans for the foreseeable future. In all honesty it felt more than a tad bit surreal walking down those hallways after having come to such a monumental, life-altering decision the night before. Storm felt decidedly awkward and uncomfortable as he passed some of his peers in his attempt to get to the management section of the building, but his mind was made up at last. Whenever it would be possible for him, he’d get his affairs in order, whatever ones he might have had in Vanhoover, cancel his contract and leave for Cloudsdale. He just couldn’t stay here any longer. “Hi, Clear? It’s me, Storm. Can I come in to talk?” he’d asked as he arrived at her office, knocking thrice on the door to make sure she was in fact there. A moment later came the response. ”Come on in.” Her tone of voice was somewhat different than it was yesterday, lower in fact, which piqued his curiosity. Opening the door with a raised eyebrow and a trembling hoof, Storm erred on the side of caution as he stepped into the office, and his heart skipped a beat when he noticed two suited Pegasi standing next to Clear’s desk, the mare carrying a metal briefcase. “Am I...interrupting something?” Storm inquired, heart leaping into overdrive as he slinked across the room. Training with Arrow would have to wait, or so it seemed. “No, no, of course not,” one of the suited Pegasi, a mid-green stallion with a brown mane, replied. “You’re right on time, in fact.” “I don’t...understand,” Storm quivered, his gaze shifting between the suits and Clear sitting at her desk. “Allow me to introduce myself, Stormfire,” the stallion answered in a rather cold and calculating emotionless tone - yet curtly extending a hoof out towards Storm. “My name is Mint Dime, and I’m the head of pony resources here at the Vanhoover Weather Factory, which means that I am Clear’s superior here and she has to report back to me about everything. Is that clear?” He then motioned towards the pastel-colored mare standing alongside him, “...and this is Fern,” and briefly towards a third pony standing in the corner, a tall, buff stallion dressed in dapper black, a security guard of some sort by the looks of it. “Alright,” Storm replied in uncertainty as the mare standing alongside him, a secretary by the looks of it, motioned for him to sit down in front of the desk. “Well, what’s the problem?” “Well, before we get into anything here I’d like to sincerely apologize on behalf of the factory for what has been going on here over these past few weeks,” Mint replied, that same stone-cold glare still glued to his face by the looks of it. hmm...Crocodile tears, Storm thought to himself, scoffing under his breath at the seeming insincerity of the higher ranks. “No employee of ours should ever feel unsafe or under-appreciated working for our company, and we will do anything in our power to set things straight.” “Clear told us about what your plans are,” the mare suddenly piped up, a faint quiver in her voice. “As you’re the victim of a freak accident that took place during a training exercise you have every right to file a lawsuit against this company for any fault you see us at. We have no right to talk you out of doing so, but we thought you should know there are other options too besides going so far as to take us to court.” “What...are you proposing?” Storm furrowed his brow at the mare in slight suspicion. “I would like to make a deal with you, Stormfire,” Mint proposed, the mare handing him the briefcase. “We haven’t discussed this with Clear yet, but we can offer you the compensation you’re entitled to. The money would be on your account by the end of the week.” Compensation. The very word alone was enough to make Storm quake in fervent anticipation. Finally he’d get what he wanted, what he deserved even, from the factory. Finally he’d be able to leave this place, this brief chapter of his life for good and start his new life in Cloudsdale. “Would you like to know how much we’re offering you right now?” the mare replied, briefly glancing down at the briefcase she held in her hooves, her lips curling into a small smirk as she took note of Storm’s grin. “Yeah?” “One thousand bits,” stated Mint, shrugging somewhat apathetically as those very words left his mouth and burrowed into Storm’s ears. “Is that enough for you? Tell me, I’m sure it’s more than enough for an esteemed individual such as yourself.” “Are you serious, Fern?” “Excuse me?” the mare turned to look at Clear, furrowing her brow. “Clear, you know I can’t—” “On Storm’s behalf, I object to such a small amount of money,” Clear suddenly raised her voice. “Storm is worth more than that. Much more, in fact.” What the hell are you implying by that, Clear? “We’ve run the numbers,” Fern replied with a shrug, yet seeming much more sincere than what Storm assumed to be her superior also. “This is the most we can offer him at this moment in time.” “This must be some sort of mistake!” Clear groaned in protest, slamming her hoof down on her desk in frustration. “Have you double checked?” “Triple, even. This is as much as we can pay him at this point in time,” Fern sighed. “I’m sorry, Stormfire...I really am, but it’s really not up to me to decide.” “He near enough drowned here! What part of that is so hard for you to understand? A thousand bits doesn’t even begin to cover the cost of his hospital stay!” “Come on Clear, you must be aware of the stock market troubles this company has been having over these past few months,” Mint suddenly interjected between the two mares, although obviously standing against Clear. “As much as we would love to help, we simply can’t. We can’t afford to hand out money like this, no matter the situation.” “Well, that’s funny, because I’m not even faintly aware of any dips in our stock value,” Clear scoffed, turning to helplessly look at an increasingly-agitated Storm sitting in his chair. “Being in the position that I am in I’d very likely be one of the first ponies to feel the effects of a dip in stock market value. Now, on a serious note Mint, I am the transfer manager around here. If anything happens to Storm here it’s on me, do you understand? It’s all on me. The same thing goes for any of my other transfers currently undergoing training. If anything were to happen to anyone of them I would face the consequences of that.” “Storm, this is as much as we can offer you right now. A thousand bits is still a lot of money, don’t you think?” “We can bring it up to $1,500 if you want.” “Two thousand?” “Three thousand.” Fern suggested. “We can’t,” Mint paused the mare before she went too far. “Two thousand’s as far as we’ll go. What do you think, Stormfire?” “Are you fucking kidding me?” Storm suddenly stood up out of his chair, briefly glancing at the security guard still present in the room. “Is this what you call compensation, or are you just throwing money at me in an attempt to try save your own asses? What happened here back then is all on you, and you can’t deny that.” “Well, like we said we apologize,” Mint replied, indignantly maintaining his composure in the face of Storm’s rage. “Come on Storm, you must understand we don’t have money to burn. You must realize that money is something that’s finite, right? Besides, you’re not really a fully-fledged weather pony yet, so…” “Well, let me tell you something Mr. Mint,” Storm suddenly approached him, ignoring the security guard standing in the corner. “I am a skilled and able weather pony where I’m from. I worked my ass off part-time after school for YEARS and suffered countless work-related injuries, some serious ones at that, just so I can get to where I am now. I was a model employee, a prized employee in fact, with a great track record of always clocking in on time and being extremely precise with what I did. If you want proof of my experience as a weather pony just check my progress reports; hopefully they should all amount to something in your eyes.” “Show me them please,” Mint scoffed as he turned towards Clear, who opened a filing cabinet beneath her desk and began sifting through the folders. “You really think you can just waltz right up to my face like this and threaten me?” “Threaten you?” Storm spat. “I don’t even know who you are. How does saying that the compensation you’re wanting to give me is awful equate to a threat?” “You know, I could just as easily have you arrested for bribery...fraud even,” Mint’s lips curled into a fiendish smirk all of a sudden, taking Storm’s stance into account. “You have no right to demand any sort of money from this company, and if you keep this act going I will see to it myself that you’re ejected from here as soon as possible. I mean, you’re of age, so I’m sure 10 to 25 years behind bars won’t be much of a big deal for you, would it? It’d sure as hell knock some sense into you.” “How dare you even suggest something like that to me? I’m not demanding anything from you, I just want to be treated with some sort of respect!” “You know what? You’re a fool, Stormfire.” “How am I a ‘fool’?” Storm dropped his hooves to the ground in frustration. “You caused this! Your mismanagement of the factory is what led to my injury! I deserve something in return!” “Storm, stop,” Clear silently pleaded as Mint cast her an angry glare. “Please.” “You think we’re just going to give you thousands of bits out of nowhere?” Mint frowned, making brief eye contact with the security guard behind him, who turned towards Storm in response. “You’re still doing your training! You’re as dumb and stupid as the rest of them are, you know that? What makes you think that you’ve contributed anything around here? You don’t deserve anything, let alone a thousand.” “Read my goddamn transfer contract and you’ll see how much you owe me.” “I’ve read it before,” Mint growled. “I know exactly how much we owe you.” “Well then, why won’t you give me what I’m entitled to?” “I’ve already made it very clear as to why, and I won’t budge whatsoever.” “Well, in that case I’ll go through with the lawsuit,” Storm’s lips curled into a smirk, briefly glancing sideways at a helpless Clear. “I won’t rest until I get what I deserve.” “Good luck with that, Stormfire,” Mint sneered in response. “I’m sure it’ll turn out swimmingly. How much can you afford to sue us for, huh?” “All I want is the money I’m entitled to, you jackass - nothing else,” Stormfire snarled. “And if you’re not going to give me it, I’ll force you to. I’ll do whatever it takes, you hear me? I’ll do whatever I can do to get what I deserve from this.” “Clear, get a load of this guy,” Mint burst into a sudden fit of laughter, even in the face of Storm’s brewing rage. “Are you hearing him right now? He thinks he can take on the whole company singlehandedly...I mean, look at him!” Clear, however, didn’t even budge, let alone smirk. “Good luck Stormfire,” Mint smirked as he turned towards the door. “You don’t know just what you’re getting yourself into!” After some more mocking laughter on his part, Mint left the room without saying another word, Fern trailing behind him and apologizing for his behavior before shutting the door behind her. “Clear...I’m sorry,” Storm began, but Clear shushed him, her glare deepening. Heart racing in confusion, he decided to continue after a beat. “I...came on too strong, I know.” “That’s easy for you to say,” Clear’s voice cracked in anger, although Storm could tell that the vast majority of that anger was directed towards the Factory establishment and not towards him. “Storm, what the hell were you thinking? You really think he’s going to do anything this way?” “I know, I’m sorry,” Storm sighed in regret, having definitely gone a bit too far in terms of his behavior. “Clear, I swear, he’s the one who started this. I tried to remain civil! He’s the one that threatened to have me arrested over virtually nothing!” “Do you understand, Stormfire? Sooner or later, this could cost me my job, my livelihood!” Clear raised her voice all of a sudden, slamming her hoof down on her desk in anger yet unheard by Storm. “He’s my superior, he can do whatever he likes! He can fire me on a whim if I do something even remotely questionable in his eyes! I know you want your money, but this isn’t the way, alright?” “I get it, okay?” Storm groaned, the weight of the situation at hand piling onto him. He had no idea how to resolve this now. “I’m a screw-up, I know...I just don’t know what to do anymore.” “Storm…,” Clear lowered her voice all of a sudden, the sympathy she felt for the stallion being overwhelming. “I’m sorry for lashing out like that, okay? I’m just upset...by all this. This isn’t easy for me to deal with by no stretch of the imagination, and I’m anxious about it not working out at all in the end.” “Clear,” Storm’s heart sank as he turned towards her. This was impacting her as negatively as it was impacting him, and from that moment on he felt an overbearing guilt gnawing at his core as he briefly pondered over his direct or indirect influence on Clear’s mental health. “Is there...any other way besides going to court? For both our sakes.” After a long and decidedly-awkward pause, Clear piped up. “Storm,” Clear sighed, looking around. “...We’re going to file the lawsuit against them, okay? And we’re gonna win it.” “You sure that this is really such a good idea?” Storm furrowed his brow, his heart skipping a beat. “Can we not complain to somepony further up the factory hierarchy about this before we take it...that far?” “What makes you think anyone would listen, Storm?” Clear asked, a seeming shell of her former self in Storm’s eyes. “You saw how that turned out. The only way to win this is to force them to cooperate. There is no other way for us to succeed in this besides going to court with this.” “I guess you’re right, in a sense,” Storm shrugged nervously, now seeing the scope of the situation with his own eyes. “I’m still not all that sure about this. Clear, is he always like this?” “Who?” “Mint,” Storm blurted out, trying to lighten the mood and clearing his throat afterward. “Not to be brash, but between you and me, he seems like such an asshole.” “He is,” Clear chuckled all of a sudden, her mood improving at least slightly. “In all honesty, he’s a real pain in the flank...not to mention stubborn as a mule. It takes a real miracle for him to relent.” “How do you put up with him, if I may?” “Well, he’s my superior, as he so eloquently put it himself,” Clear scoffed in response. “I kinda have to.” “Makes sense,” Storm chuckled, satisfied with the response he’d ended up getting from her. “Clear, I’ve been thinking about this since yesterday, and I know you might have been as well.” “Hm?” she raised an eyebrow. “I’ve come to the conclusion that I’d...like to quit,” Storm smiled after a beat. “Pure and simple. I’d like to have my contract canceled and be flown back home to Cloudsdale as soon as it would be possible for me to do so. The physical experience was valuable and will help me out in the future beyond the shadow of a doubt, but in the end I don’t belong here, or in this line of work at all for that matter. I can’t keep doing something that goes against who I am and what my goal in life is.” “Storm...are you sure?” Clear asked all of a sudden.  “I mean…” “I...I am,” Storm inhaled deeply. “This isn’t right for me...and it needs to change as soon as it’s possible. For my sake and for...everyone else’s too.” “What about your compensation? Do you still want to pursue that?” “I do, but I don’t want the stress,” Storm replied succinctly, getting his point across to Clear as best as he could. “You said the only real way for us to get it is by suing them. How would that work? Would I have to appear in court?” “I don’t know about that, Stormfire,” Clear shrugged. “I’d imagine you would have to, or else the prosecutor will dismiss the case.” “Clear, is there really no other way?” Storm raised an eyebrow, panicking internally. “Please...tell me.” “Storm…” “Clear, I swear to god,” Storm near enough yelled out at that point, frustration and anxiety raging deep within. “Mint’s right...is it really that feasible for me to do this?” “Storm…,” Clear sighed. “Tell you what. I’ll discuss this with some other higher ranks and we’ll see how far this can go before the factory relents...if that doesn’t work this will be our Plan B, okay? Please, you’ve got to trust me on this, alright?” “Alright, thank you,” Storm heaved a sigh of relief, his heart rate coming down. “Please Clear, just make sure this finds its way to whoever deals with this sort of stuff. I don’t want to go to court with this, at least not just yet.” “Okay, I’ll try my best.” “Thank you.” “In all honesty, Stormfire,” Clear smirked all of a sudden, satisfiedly. “It’s been a real pleasure having you around. Truth be told you’re probably my favorite transfer thus far, and I couldn’t be more grateful to have you here with us, even if only for a little while.” “The pleasure is all mine,” Storm’s lips curled into a smirk, the weight of his stay having been lifted off his shoulders all of a sudden. “It’s been a rough ride but I got through it - at least most of it - thanks to you. Thank you Clear—for everything. I don’t know how I would have coped by myself, especially with so much money to pay off.” “Storm, I did what I had to do, okay?” Clear replied. “Besides, you’re practically family to us, you know that? I’ll have to tell Lilli that you’ll be going back to Cloudsdale, but seeing as she’ll be going there herself in a little while yet I’m sure she’ll be okay with it.” “How do you think she’ll respond?” “Well, I’m sure she’ll be accepting of it,” Clear responded with a smile. “We’re all gonna miss you Storm, but I’m sure we’ll see each other again sooner than later.” “Definitely,” Storm nodded. “I’ll have to write to High Wind, alright?” she said, much to Storm’s chagrin. “This has absolutely nothing to do in particular with you being transferred here, but I just want him to know what it all led to and that you’re coming home as soon as possible whether he likes it or not. Unfortunately I can’t really do that right now, or today for that matter, but I’ll email him about this first thing tomorrow, okay?” “Okay...thank you.” “In the meantime, I will start by canceling your contract and removing your file from our databases,” Clear smiled, turning towards her computer and logging on. “You’ll be off our systems by Monday next week, alright?” “Alright.” “And don’t worry about the money, alright? I’ll try and have that arranged for you by the end of the week,” Clear explained, scouring her computer for Storm’s file. “Hopefully you’ll get a nice surprise when you take a look at your bank account on Saturday, Storm.” “Definitely,” Storm nodded in response. “What if it doesn’t work though?” “Then we’ll have no other choice than to go with plan B.” “Clear,” Storm began, a sad smirk creeping onto his face. “Thank you, for everything.” “It’s been a pleasure, Storm.”